Sharing the Dorm with the Enemy from Previous Life

Pursuing Boyfriend (3)

Ruan Qingmu gave an “mn” and was about to hang up the phone reluctantly when he suddenly heard a faint voice coming from Qin Yuan’s microphone. “Dear passengers, we have almost arrived at the next Yu Pinghu station. Please…”

“Ruan Ruan, goodnight. Happy New Year!” Qin Yuan suddenly exclaimed, then hung up the phone decisively.

Ruan Qingmu blankly opened the door to his room, feeling slightly strange in his heart but could not grasp what was wrong and was feeling vague.

Outside, Mu Wanli smiled and waved at him. “Come here.”

Qiu-ge had freeloaded here for the New Year’s Eve dinner and was too embarrassed to stay for the Spring Gala, so he had already left.

Mu Wanli pulled her son into a seat and took out three red envelopes, handing them to Ruan Qingmu, Xiao-Yun, and Xiao-Zhuang. “New Year is auspicious. Take these so that Mu Mu will do well at school, Xiao-Yun will be healthy and pretty, and Xiao-Zhuang will grow up faster.”

Xiao-Yun’s eyes brimmed with tears and she did not refuse, accepting the red envelope on her brother’s behalf.

She fumbled around and pulled out a thick red envelope from her pocket too, and called warmly toward Ruan Qingmu, “Mu Mu, come here.”

Ruan Qingmu didn’t go over. “Yun-jie, I can’t take your red envelope. You should leave it for yourself.”

Tears fell from Xiao-Yun’s unfocused eyes. “Mu Mu, be obedient. It’s a custom from our native place. Every fully underage child has to receive the red envelopes from the adults. Please take it. If not, I will tell Xiao-Zhuang not to accept anything you buy in the future.”

Mu Wanli quietly wiped her tears and winked at Ruan Qingmu. Ruan Qingmu was left with no other choice but to reach out and take it. When he reached out and squeezed it, it was at least several thousand dollars.

Xiao-Yun wouldn’t feel at ease if he didn’t take it. At worst, he could just secretly spend it on Xiao-Zhuang again later.

Mu Wanli said gently, “Children can’t stay up late. You guys can eat dumplings tomorrow morning after waking up.”

Ruan Qingmu gazed at her, then suddenly stretched out his arms and gave her a firm hug. “Mom, I will get into a good university. You don’t need to worry about me.”

***

Ruan Qingmu took Xiao-Zhuang with him and the two of them squeezed into the small bathroom, one large and one tiny foot basin side by side.

Xiao-Zhuang suddenly stretched out his hand and shoved the red envelope he was holding into Ruan Qingmu’s hand as hard as he could, just like his sister.

Ruan Qingmu was so touched that he felt warm and saddened, putting the red envelope with his back into his pocket, pressing it down, and shaking his head.

“Xiao-Zhuang, that big brother will come to pay a New Year call at our home in two days. Do you miss him?”

Xiao-Zhuang looked blankly at his bright eyes and flushed cheeks.

Ruan Qingmu supported him, and his fair and pretty feet were soaking in the hot water basin, splashing little splashes of water.

Looking at Xiao-Zhuang’s confused expression, he smiled, found a picture of Qin Yuan from the pile of photos on his phone, and pointed it out to Xiao-Zhuang. “Do you remember him?”

Xiao-Zhuang’s eyes lit up and his water-soaked finger poked Qin Yuan’s face on the screen, making a gesture of him eating a bunch of grapes.

Ruan Qingmu burst into laughter and proudly reached out to scratch the little guy’s nose. “You only remember to eat. Later, we will sneakily eat his small birthday cake, then take a picture to make him drool.”

As the night deepened and the hustle and bustle of New Year’s Eve and the vigil outside gradually quieted down, Ruan Qingmu and Xiao-Zhuang fell asleep side by side and dazedly yawned.

For some reason, something was always on his mind. After a long time, between half-asleep and half-awake, Ruan Qingmu suddenly opened his eyes with a jolt.

The several weird points in his head finally were connected. The background sound of “KD4XX” in the waiting room, followed by the shouting sound of “melon seeds and plum candies,” and the Yu Pinghu station a moment ago?

… Wasn’t that a small town bordering a neighboring province and this one?

He rolled over and sat up, quickly opening his phone browser in the dark.

The train schedule. KD4 marked the departure station Y City… arrived at the planned time at Yu Pinghu Station.

It was dark outside the window and with the ban on firecrackers for the New Year, it smelt slightly less like gunpowder and smoke than in previous years, but his heart was pounding wildly on this New Year’s Eve and he was unable to sleep. Fuck!!

After sitting dazedly in bed for a while, he tiptoed to the floor and began to dress carefully.

Wrapping himself up tightly, he opened his mobile phone. He picked up the small cake he hadn’t touched from the table, picked up the wrapped painting frame in the corner, and quietly pushed open the door to his room.

Standing on the street at midnight on New Year’s Day, he anxiously stomped his feet. It was too late for a driver to pass by at two in the morning.

No one answered the taxi app and the fastest one took more than twenty minutes to arrive.

When he finally found a taxi in the chilling wind, he looked at the time and called out to the driver. “Sir, we’re not going to the train station. Go straight to the Yuting Residence!”